Dead Sea, Israel (CNN)The swimmers pulled themselves from the water exhausted, their lycra swimsuits stiff from all the crystallized salt. The water had stung their eyes, burned their skin, and exposed cuts they never knew they had. But after seven hours in the water, just after the shadows started growing long again in the afternoon sun, they were finished.

The group of nearly 30 swimmers had become the first people ever to swim across the Dead Sea from Jordan to Israel, a nine-mile (15-kilometer) swim that had never been accomplished before because the water is so inhospitable to marathon swimming.

This summer, 17 companies offered bids to build the canal, which is expected to take four to five years to complete. When finished it will pump hundreds of millions of cubic meters of water per year into the Dead Sea.

'Acid burning your eyeballs'

In the interim, the sea (which is actually an inland lake) is becoming saltier -- something the swimmers couldn't help but notice.

"One drop of this water and I can tell you from experience in the last 24 hours ... It's like acid burning your eyeballs," said Chambers. "I had to take my contact lenses out so I couldn't actually see shore when we came in."

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Chambers has completed marathon swims in Japan, America, Gibraltar, and Scotland among other places but this swim posed its own unique set of challenges.

The swimmers had to wear full face masks to protect their eyes and mouth but the masks leaked.

"We got water in our eyes, we were in pain. We're chafed, but everyone just stuck together and kept an eye out for each other," Chambers said.

"We all rallied around this single purpose, which was to draw attention to the Dead Sea, and it had to be something as flamboyant as this to get international attention.

"To be able to do something like this when you get unprecedented diplomatic support from both sides, to save this sea, which is why we're all here today, it's going to take a long time to process. This is so special."